Five Companies That Dropped The Ball This Week

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After a 19-month antitrust investigation, the Federal Trade Commission decided not to bring charges against Google over its search business practices, and instead it delivered what amounted to a wrist-slap. Microsoft, which spent untold sums lobbying regulators to lower the boom on Google, could not contain its frustration with the FTC's ruling.

"The FTC's overall resolution of this matter is weak and -- frankly -- unusual," Dave Heiner, Microsoft's vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a blog post.

Heiner also noted that "Google seems to be walking with a new spring in its step" in the wake of the ruling and suggested that things might turn out differently when European regulators render their decision in the case. All of this bluster no doubt triggered much snickering in the hallways of Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.